May 18, 2002

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 4th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team saw their season come to an end with a 4-2 loss at the hands of the University of Southern California in the round of 16 of the 2002 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament at the Texas A&M Tennis Center.

The Bears end the season at 27-2 which broke the program's record for most victories in a season. The loss halted Baylor's record-setting 18-match winning streak. USC raises its record to 22-5.

USC, ranked No. 11 nationally and seeded No. 11 in the tournament, broke out to a 1-0 lead when they took two of the three doubles matches from the Bears. Things looked good for Baylor when it took Benjamin Becker and Zoltan Papp just 35 minutes to post an 8-3 victory over Teige Sullivan and Rueben Torres at No. 2. However, Markus Hornung and Nathan McGregor lost to USC's Ryan Moore and Nick Raimey, ranked ninth in the nation, 8-5 at the top doubles spot. That put the pressure on Reiner Neurohr and Matias Marin at No. 3. The Baylor duo battled Prakash Amritraj and Daniel Langre back and fourth with each team holding serve until USC, up a game at 8-7, broke Marin's serve to win the match and the doubles point.

Going into singles, the Bears would need to take four of the six matches to secure the victory. Junior Zoltan Papp, ranked No. 45, whipped through his match at No. 2 singles, defeating Ryan Moore 6-3, 6-1 to even the match at one point each. However, USC's Daniel Langre defeated Reiner Neurohr at No. 5, 6-3, 6-2, to put USC ahead again. In one of the more surprising outcomes, USC's Andrew Park, ranked 30th nationally, defeated 9th ranked Benjamin Becker at No. 1, 7-5, 6-3. Baylor earned their last point when Markus Hornung defeated Prakash Amritraj at No. 4, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8). The Trojans claimed victory when Reuben Torres took No. 6 singles with a 7-4 (4), 6-2 win over Armando Carrascosa.

Southern California 4, Baylor 2
Doubles
1. #9 Ryan Moore, USC def. #34 Hornung/Nathan McGregor, BU 8-5
2. Becker/Papp, BU def. Teige Sullivan/Torres, USC 8-3
3. Amritraj/Langre, USC def. Marin/Neurohr, BU 9-7

Singles
1. #30 Andrew Park, USC def. #9 Benjamin Becker, BU 7-5, 6-3
2. #45 Zoltan Papp, BU def. #87 Ryan Moore, USC 6-3, 6-1
3. #65 Markus Hornung, BU def. #85 Prakash Amritraj, USC 6-2, 7-6 (10-8)
4. Matias Marin, BU vs. #46 Nick Raimey, USC DNF
5. Daniel Langre, USC def. Reiner Neurohr, BU 6-3, 6-2
6. Rueben Torres, USC def. Armando Carrascosa, BU 7-6 (4), 6-2